Tag Get Ready for Kindergarten by Leap Frog

Thank you to LeapFrog for sponsoring this review. For more information about LeapFrog Tag Get Ready for Kindergarten, please visit their website #LeapFrogTag #spon

I have a confession to make. I’ve been kind of against the whole Tag Reading system for a long time. I never tried it, but for some reason it bothered me. How dare we decide that a little pen could replace actually sitting with your kids and reading with them. I’m a big proponent of spending time with your kids exploring books and reading with them. Not that I’m a big reader now, but I know if I had more time to spare I would totally be into reading. I enjoy reading books, and when I start one, I really can’t do much else until I finish it. So I rarely start. I just don’t have the time in my life right now to devote a few days to a good book. As a huge fan of technology, and how much technology can bring to our kids education, I really have no idea why I had this attitude towards the Tag Reading System. Boy, was I sooooo wrong about it too.

We received our little package from Leap Frog and even upon first glance I knew I had made a huge mistake (much like Gob from Arrested Development). I opened up the “Get Ready for Kindergarten” book, and it was not just an ordinary book with words and pictures. The very first page had a legend for the rest of the pages which included a star icon to play a game on the page, or some other symbols that would say the word, sound it out or spell the word. There is a page for letters, sound blending like “tr”, vowels, beginning word sounds, math, skip counting, and many many many more! Covering everything from reading, math, science and even social skills like feelings.

My daughter’s favorite page is the dinosaurs page, because she LOVES dinosaurs (really anything that remotely resembles and animal would be her favorite, no matter what. On this page you can break each dinosaur’s name into “chunks” to make it easier to learn how to say, you can find out facts about each dinosaur, and play games by classifying dinosaurs. The Tag pen will say “find 2 dinosaurs that have beaks” and you touch the dinosaurs that have beaks. Then it will ask “find 3 dinosaurs that eat meat”, and so on. It’s really a fun way for her to learn more about the dinosaurs.

My son, who is still a little bit young for the book, still loves the “colors” page he calls it. Even though it really has nothing to do with colors, he likes the paint on it. I really like that it’s still teaching him how these sounds come together to make a single sound, while he thinks he’s playing with colors. The game will ask you to find the picture that starts with the “st” sound and you will touch the star. He’s able to do several of these as he knows the words that match the pictures.

So, I’m big enough to admit when I’m wrong, and I was very wrong about the Tag Reading system. I can’t wait to get some more books for my kids to use with it! I was even looking up to see if they had a sea animals one (which would definitely keep my daughter entertained for HOURS). Alas I haven’t seen one yet, but I’m still looking.

I was selected for this opportunity as a compensated member of Clever Girls Collective and received free product from LeapFrog to review. The content and opinions expressed here are all my own. #LeapFrogTag #spon

I am a mom who can fix your blog, your computer, or your server. I have been in the IT industry supporting small businesses for over 15 years. As a diehard PC and Android user, I can usually be found sparring with Apple fanboys, or watching movies with my family.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive compensation if you make a purchase using the links.